Following a request by the European Commission, ERCIM has set
up an EU-China High Performance Computing and Networking (HPCN)
Initiative to foster business, industrial and technological co-operation
between European and Chinese operators in this high-ech sector.
HPCN is a crucial technology of strategic importance for European
industrial and scientific competitiveness. It has the potential
for great and far-reaching impact on productivity, industrial
competitiveness, environmental management and many other aspects
of economy and society. The use of HPCN systems for commercial
applications is expected to be taken up vigorously in the second
half of the decade, both in Europe and in emerging economies,
such as China.

The first meeting of a Chinese Delegation with European experts
and officials from the European Commission was held in Brussels.
The meeting was followed by a familiarisation tour for the Chinese
in Europe, organised by ERCIM and included visits at companies
in Belgium, France, Germany, England and Italy. Two European workshops
were organised by ERCIM in Pisa and Abingdon. There the organisers
presented the initiative, while the Chinese partners gave an overview
on HPCN activities and the potential of IT in general in China.
As an example, the experience of setting up a high-ech joint
venture between a European and a Chinese partner was presented,
followed by a lively discussion on the obstacles and problems.
Also the chances of setting up such a joint venture and the initiative
in general was discussed.

It was concluded that considerable interest was shown by the participating
organisations in a co-operation with Chinese companies and institutions.
Furthermore there was a noticeable interest by other companies
who couldnt make it to the meetings. As a result of the European
workshops, 75 companies registered as potentially interested in
the initiative.

While ERCIM was waiting for the Chinese to organise a similar
workshop in China, a preliminary report was released on the situation
of HPCN in China. The report was based on the information gathered
from Chinese web sites and newsletters; from people who visited
China or already had experience in co-operations with Chinese
institutions and also with some input from China itself.

The Chinese workshop was held in Beijing in October 1998. It started
with presentations of the participating European companies, the
Technology Transfer Network (TTN), a European initiative for technology
transfer in the HPCN sector funded by the Esprit Programme of
the European Union, and the ten selected Chinese institutions.
After the presentations, the Chinese participants could discuss
issues directly with the European representatives. An immediate
positive result from this initiative was the contact established
between different companies and institutions from Europe and China.

The Chinese side stated that the workshop was a useful experience
and that they found the TTN scheme very interesting. They were
missing this kind of action in the part they learned from American
and Japanese counterparts. At that time, China had established
several HPC centres which mainly host HPCN systems neglecting
information dissemination and technology transfer. Therefore they
were interested in setting up a remote node of the European TTN
in China. In addition to the European TTN nodes, they would like
to offer access to HPCN platforms to Chinese end-users. Such platforms
should be created from Chinese hardware with demonstration versions
of European software including documentation and training. Such
a node could serve as a European window in China to promote European
technology and know-how plus enhanced co-operation between China
and Europe. Another goal of this Chinese TTN node could be the
summarised translation of documents from the European TTN in Chinese
for dissemination in China. So the Chinese participants said that
they would recommend to the government to set up a similar scheme
in China. The Chinese participants also showed interest in business
contacts with the European companies represented at the meeting.
These companies were also quite satisfied with the feedback they
got from the Chinese hosts.

In conclusion, the 4 goals of this initiative were mostly fulfilled:

raising the awareness of the available technology and expertise
for companies with potential interest in HPCN in China and in
Europe

informing the business community in this field about the market
opportunities in China and Europe

offering a business forum, where direct contacts between potential
partners from Europe and China can be made

trying to establish more co-operation between European and Chinese
companies.